The Steamboating Forum

Good to have you join here, with much practical knowledge about small reciprocating steam plants. Did you know that steam power production is presently the largest source of power generation in the world? Steam engines, in the form of steam turbines, generate about 70% of all the electricity in the ...

Could you please attach a photo of the nameplate that is attached onto the valve.

Compounded Steam Cylinder Oil, great stuff for the machinery, but should never enter the boiler.

I also oil my engine internals quite liberally when finished with a steaming run, as the engine valve gear will often get seized up without liberal oil after shutdown. The Margaret S steam plant is non-condensing, so I just use compounded steam cylinder oil for this duty. In condensing steam plants ...

Boating has a special appeal to those of us who want to get away from the well traveled paths of more common endeavors. The appeal of being on the water, getting away from the more common recreational pursuits found in today's society has much to attract our attention. Boating has great appeal based...

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the compliment. Much help in your future with steamboats can be found here, from a minimal conversion of a small existing sailboat hull to obtaining a much larger traditional steamer. Where are you located, and what is your background? Best wishes in your future ...

Just got back yesterday from Texas, inspection of progress on the steam separator, 150 inch inside diameter, 75 feet long, 3 inch wall thickness. To me it looked like a small submarine hull. Vessel is lined (weld overlay) with Inconel 625 alloy, thats why it costs about 7x the cost of the same vesse...

I use the blowdown system recommended by BARTS. Coming off the boiler is a 1/2 inch ball valve, followed by a steam service angle valve (double valving required here), followed by a common hose connection, and 4 feet of proper rated washing machine water hose. After I put the boat on the trailer I d...

In large utility power plant practice, the hotwell storage volume is typically 3 minutes storage volume at maximum power. That is USA practice, and generally in Canada 5 to 8 minutes storage is typical. For our steamboats, where feedwater flow at full load is around 100 PPH (Pounds Per Hour), a six ...

Perhaps (actually almost certainly) Ray knew larger exhaust passages are better, so he incorporated this feature easily on the later design.